HBA-CMT H.B. 2691 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2691
By: Madden
Elections
3/19/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently the Department of Public Safety (DPS) collects voter registration
application information at the time a person applies for a driver's
license.  This information is collected electronically and is then printed
on a paper card for the applicant's signature.  The card is then mailed to
the appropriate county voter registrar and processed into an electronic
file by the county registrar.  The file is used to produce the voter rolls
and a voter certificate is mailed to the voter.  Maintaining this
information electronically may succeed in speeding up the process,
minimizing data entry errors, and reducing the possibility of lost
applications. House Bill 2691 requires DPS to have voter registration
information and signatures for residents of certain counties digitally
captured and then transferred in electronic form to the county registrar.   

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 2691 amends the Election Code to provide that if a person who
resides in a county of three million or more completes a voter registration
application, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) is required to input the
information provided on the application into DPS's electronic database
system and direct the applicant to provide an electronic signature for the
application in the same manner an electronic signature is provided for a
driver's license.  The bill requires DPS to electronically transfer the
applicant's registration data including the applicant's signature to the
voter registrar of the county in which the applicant resides no later than
the sixth day after the date the person completes a voter registration
application and provides an electronic signature.  The voter registrar is
required to maintain a database approved by the secretary of state for
receiving electronically transmitted registration applications.  The
secretary of state is required to prescribe additional procedures to
implement the provisions of this bill.    

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.